Think about something you feel passionate about. It could be a political issue, an art form or flying to Mars. It could be anything.

Imagine if you shared your passion or opinion beyond your family and friends. How would that make you feel? What impact would that make?

The other night one of my staff messaged me and said he had written an article over a glass of red about why to vote yes to marriage equality and could I have a look at it.

Not only did I look at it, I edited it and the next day, during work time, we strategised which journalist and publication to pitch it to. (And of course, it was picked up. Read it here).

Now that is a scary thing to do. I know that personally. Being prepared to share your voice with the world puts you in a really vulnerable position, particularly on a divisive issue such as marriage equality.

If not you, who?

But here’s the thing. If not you, who?

I believe we all have stories to tell that will help others in some way. We have experienced situations through our lives that should be shared because others will benefit from it. Or if we feel strongly enough about the issue, it’s our responsibility to express that, to affect the change we want to see.

The world needs to hear what you have to say. If you don’t, you miss out on sharing your beauty with the world. You miss your purpose.

Be brave

Having the courage to be honest and exposed when you tell your stories through the media and social media will make them so much more impactful. They will start resonating with people.

When you start telling your stories and sharing your expertise because it is helping the people who are listening or reading it, you will be amazed with the emotional connection that you start building with people and the relationships you start developing – because you’re positively impacting their lives.

We live in a world where we are encouraged to compare ourselves to others. As soon as we do this, we start living smaller lives. We start thinking our stories are not as important as theirs.

We need to have the confidence to know our stories are valid, not matter how big or small.

Recently I had a journalist email us to let us know that an interview we had set up for him was a disaster. He said the interviewee couldn’t articulately describe what his company did.

The journalist had to interpret the responses, and it resulted in incorrect information about the company being published. Luckily it was an online publication so we got it changed. But it wasn’t the journalist’s fault, it was the interviewee’s.

Whether you’re trying to gain the interest of a potential customer, trying to get the attention of a journalist or simply explaining what you do, having a strong elevator statement is essential.

An elevator statement is a quick summary you use in any situation where you need to explain your business or what you do in a clear and concise manner.

It’s perfect to use when you need to explain to someone with limited knowledge of your industry what you do, how you do it and who you do it for. It should be simple, short, concise and easy to understand.

3 quick tips:

Write down what you do. Get a pen and paper out and write what you do in different ways. Don’t be too particular at this stage as this first step is for generating ideas and getting a feel for descriptive words.

Get another opinion. Once you have made necessary edits and perfected your statement to fit into a 30-60 second time frame, run it by as many people as you can. It helps to do this practice with people you trust that already have some understanding of what you do so they can best provide feedback.

Practice, practice, practice. Now you have your final statement. Write it down and memorise it so you are comfortable delivering it in any situation.

Tweetable: Ever get stuck when asked what you do? Here are 3 tips for rocking your elevator statement @CatrionaPollard bit.ly/2gfISX7